Blumenthal Statement on Vote for Cloture on Chinese Currency Manipulation Bill

(Washington, DC) – Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today released a statement after he supported The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act of 2011, a bill aimed at curbing China’s undervaluing of its currency which has unfairly skewed trade markets in their favor. The bill cleared an important procedural hurdle in the Senate and will be the subject of additional debate over the coming days. Blumenthal is an original cosponsor of the bill:

“At a time when Americans are struggling to find work, we cannot tolerate China’s predatory manipulation of markets caused by devaluing its currency, which costs us jobs in CT and across the country. China has created an unfair and uneven playing field by giving their own exports the advantage, costing millions of American jobs to be lost and our manufacturing industry to suffer. This bipartisan bill will impose the necessary sanctions and consequences for these practices and help put our economy back track by ensuring that our manufacturers and businesses can compete in global markets. This vote brings us one step closer to full passage and I look forward to voting in favor of passing this critical piece of legislation in the coming days.”

The bill provides consequences for countries that fail to adopt appropriate policies to eliminate currency misalignment and includes tools to address the impact of currency misalignment on American manufacturers, including imposing tariffs on imports benefitting from foreign government subsidies, and enhancing and improving oversight of currency exchange rates.

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